International
Federation of JournalistsIFJ Warns of Threats
to Liberty if European Union Agrees to Charter for Official
Snooping Media Release, 27 May 2002

The International Federation of Journalists and
its European regional group, the European Federation of Journalists
today called on the European Parliament to block attempts this
week to allow member states to pass laws that will give the authorities
regular access to peoples telephone and Internet communications.

A draft law to be voted on by the European Parliament in Brussels
on Wednesday could, says Aidan White, IFJ General Secretary,
open the door to the snooping society in which peoples
private communications will become
subject to official monitoring.

The IFJ is calling on MEPs to reject amendments to the 1997
European Directive on the Protection of Telecommunications Data
and Information to allow EU states to pass laws to keep data
about people's electronic
communications for access by police, customs, immigration and
intelligence services. Under existing rules data can only be
retained for a short period for "billing" purposes
(ie: to help the customer confirm usage details) and then it
must be erased.

This amendment to policy would have been unthinkable
before September 11 last year, but politicians are using public
uncertainty and security concerns to undermine peoples
rights and liberties, said Aidan White. This charter
for official snooping in the EU must be opposed.

Until now, the European Parliament has said the position should
remain that access for purposes of national security and criminal
investigations should be authorised in a case-by-case basis by
the courts.

But the Parliament is under pressure from the EU Council of
Ministers. Because the measure is subject to the co-decision
procedure, whereby the Council and the European Parliament have
to agree the final text, the two
bodies are potentially on a collision course.

Although Brussels bureaucrats will argue that the Council's
proposal is not binding and that it will be up to each government
to decide how to respond we hope the Parliament will stand firm,
says the IFJ. We know the that EU governments are planning
to adopt a Framework Decision that will bind all members states
to introduce the retention of data.

The IFJ says that if telecommunications &SHY; telephone calls,
e-mails, faxes and Internet usage - are placed under official
surveillance data protection will be fatally undermined. So
will the capacity of journalists to monitor
the apparatus of state and to store information, said White.

The citizens right to private space and for the
press to investigate and scrutinise the authorities without intimidation
are freedoms that distinguish democracies from authoritarian
regimes," says the IFJ, They
must not be given up lightly.

Further information: + 32 2 235 22 00
The IFJ represents more than 500,000 journalists in more than
100 countries